


The Mourning After

by Shi_Toyu



Series: Painsgiving - November 2018 [30]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Arc Reactor, Arc Reactor Angst, Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Clint Barton & Tony Stark Friendship, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt, Everything Hurts, Family Feels, Feels, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Canon Compliant, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Steve Rogers, Painsgiving, Protective Avengers, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Team, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Team Dynamics, Team Feels, Team as Family, The Author Regrets Nothing, Tissue Warning, Tony Stark & Thor Friendship, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, Tony Stark-centric, mascara warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 13:52:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17623595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: Tony's been working himself so hard lately, the team can't bear to wake him at the end of a team movie night.





	The Mourning After

**Author's Note:**

> Day 30: "Goodbye."
> 
> Here it is, folks! My crowning, Painsgiving jewel. I hope you all have enjoyed the journey. Special thanks to [ the-faultofdaedalus ](https://the-faultofdaedalus.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for the prompt that inspired this one!

Steve stood and stretched his arms up above him as the movie’s credits rolled across the screen. The lights were still dim, as per usual, but he was feeling restless. It was a side-effect of the serum. He had more energy than he knew what to do with sometimes.

“That was good,” he said, smiling at the team around him.

Bruce only held a finger to his lips and glanced over at the couch. Tony was curled up against one arm, feet loosely tucked up beside him and face slack with sleep. The glow of the arc reactor was muffled only slightly by the t-shirt he was wearing. He looked peaceful, which was a relief. He’d been working so hard lately. Steve had been worried about him.

“Shall I carry him to his room?” Thor’s deep voice rumbled, though far more muted than it normally was.

Steve shook his head.

“Probably best not to risk waking him. He needs the sleep.”

Natasha hummed in agreement as she stood.

“Let’s take this party elsewhere, boys.”

She paused long enough to press a light kiss to Tony’s forehead, lips slipping into a frown as she pulled away.

“His temperature is down again,” a side effect of the arc reactor that they were all well familiar with by this point. “Does anyone have a-“

“I got it,” Clint said, already pulling the garishly purple, fuzzy blanket he’d carted up from his room for movie night from around his shoulders and draping it over Tony’s form. “Now, let’s get out of here before we wake him up. I’m not going to be the one who has to explain to Pepper that we interrupted the first sleep he’s gotten in who knows how long.”

Exchanging small, soft smiles, the Avengers filtered out of the room and headed down to the residential levels of the tower. They said their goodbyes and bid each other goodnight as they split up to go to their own beds. As Steve climbed under his sheets, he relished the warm, happy feeling in his chest. He’d never get back the life he’d lost when he put that plane in the ocean, but he had a new life here and he wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. The Avengers were his family and the tower was his home. They were all he needed, even if he missed the people he’d known before. There was room enough in his heart for both.

.

Steve’s alarm went off at five, an ungodly hour to anyone who wasn’t pumped full of super soldier serum. As it was, Steve would be antsy and jittery all day if he didn’t get his run in. He popped upstairs to grab his chilled water bottle out of the fridge and was surprised to see Tony’s form still curled up on the couch. It looked like he hadn’t even moved throughout the night, his hair a rumbled mess where his head peeked out of the blanket Clint had tucked around him. His back probably wouldn’t be happy with him when he finally woke up, but at least he’d have gotten the rest he needed.

Steve poured a glass of water and grabbed some aspirin from the bathroom, setting them both on the coffee table for Tony in case he woke up before Steve got back.

His run took him from one end of the island to the other and back, setting a decent clip and carefully picked out to avoid the worst of the traffic. It was seven by the time he returned to the tower, giving him plenty of time to shower and pull on fresh clothes before heading up to start on breakfast for the team. He didn’t always cook, didn’t even  _usually_  cook, but he liked to do it from time to time. They all gathered at about the same time to eat anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Tony was still on the couch, so Steve tried to be quiet as he went about the preparations for the meal. It wasn’t terribly difficult. Blueberry pancakes weren’t exactly the loudest of dishes. One by one, the rest of the team started filtering in. The noise level rose with them, despite their best efforts, and yet Tony still didn’t appear.

“Is he really sleeping through all of this?” Clint finally snickered, pulling a sharpie out of a drawer. “I’m gonna go draw on his face.”

“You absolutely are  _not_ ,” Steve scolded, pleased when Natasha deftly snatched the marker away from Clint. “That is for labelling food containers  _only_  and Tony doesn’t deserve having his face drawn on. He’d never feel comfortable falling asleep during movie night again. I’ll just go wake him up. Bruce, could you…?”

He gestured toward the stove and Bruce easily slipped past him to take over.

Steve couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he headed into the living room area, crouching down beside Tony. He looked exactly the same as he had last night, long, dark lashes standing out starkly against pale skin. Steve hoped he wasn’t getting sick. Maybe Bruce could talk Tony into letting him do a check-up.

“Hey,” he called softly, “time to wake up, Tony.”

He knew something was wrong the second his hand touched Tony’s shoulder. Even through the blanket, Steve could feel the lack of warmth. His muscles were locked in place, not moving even when Steve shook him. For the first time, Steve realized the slight blue tinge to Tony’s skin and lips wasn’t just the morning light.

“ ** _Bruce!_** ”

His panic was clear in his voice as he scrambled to pull the blanket down so he could press his fingers to Tony’s neck, searching for a pulse he already knew he wasn’t going to be able to find. The scrambling of the team as they responded to his shout faded into the background as white noise roared in his ears. His eyes stung and his throat felt tight in a way that reminded him distinctly of the asthma attacks he so often had growing up.

Not Tony. Please,  _please_ , not Tony.


End file.
